German police have fatally shot the individual believed to be the driver of a van that rammed into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival, resulting in the death of a woman and injuries to at least 29 people.
The suspected terrorist, identified as Abdul Ballout, aged 21, engaged with the police in a confrontation with a weapon before being shot by law enforcement officers. Ballout was located in an allotment garden in Spandau, West Berlin.
Law enforcement authorities had previously issued a wanted notice cautioning the public against approaching Ballout, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, citing potential danger due to his potential possession of arms.
Polizei Berlin reported, “At approximately 6pm, the individual involved in the prior day’s incident in the Grosser Tiergarten was discovered in an allotment garden in Spandau. Allegedly, he advanced towards our emergency responders armed with a stabbing weapon, leading to the use of police firearms. Despite immediate resuscitation efforts, he succumbed at the scene.” Witnesses heard two separate rounds of gunfire during the operation at the garden shed. Berlin’s interior senator Iris Spranger expressed gratitude towards the police for swiftly apprehending the assailant.
Earlier statements by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt indicated that the suspect had a history of criminal activities and alleged ties to radicalization and the Islamist community in Berlin. Dobrindt suggested a potential link to Islamic terrorism based on the evidence available.
The incident took place around 10pm on Saturday, close to a gathering near the Brandenburg Gate that marked the conclusion of Berlin’s Pride festival. A white van reportedly struck multiple individuals in Tiergarten Park before colliding with a tree, within a crowd likely comprised of festival attendees and other visitors.
Among those affected was Ashley Jump, a 26-year-old British individual who had attended the parade on Saturday but departed before the attack occurred. Returning the following day to pay respects at a memorial site, Jump stated, “They’ll never erase us, we’ll never be gone. As long as humanity has existed, we’ve existed. We will not be removed.”